Book of the Month

DF's picture

Can I Play With Madness?

by DF 8/13/2009 - 2:54 pm   |

I am baffled.

Maybe it's because I can remember things that happened more than five minutes ago.  Maybe it's because I remember when my country rushed into a war of choice in Iraq.  Maybe it's because I remember attending massive protests in major metropolitan cities with hardly a mention in any newspaper or on any television program or in any other outlet that exists as a part of the ostensibly liberal media establishment.  Maybe it's because I remember seeing pictures and reading accounts, all distributed on the Internet, of protest marches that were at least as big, if not bigger, also with no mention in any major media outlet.  Maybe it's because I remember protestors being cordoned off in "free speech zones" during public appearances by George Bush, sometimes miles out of the watchful eye of television cameras.

Maybe it's because I'm now watching a small contigent of provocateurs being sold by all media as "grass roots" citizen activists.  Maybe it's because I don't recall Congress feeling it was necessary to touch base with the electorate through a series of highly publicized town hall meetings before we invaded Iraq, or passed the USA PATIROT Act or the MCA.  Maybe it's because I'm seeing people with guns making obvious threats to the life of the President and his family right in front of the watchful eye of television cameras.  Maybe it's because I can't seem to reconcile the seemingly insurmountable power of a Republican majority in contrast with the inexplicably impotent nature of a Democratic majority.

Maybe I'm the one who's crazy.

Maybe.

I know you were being facetious, but you're clearly not the crazy one. It is amazing how the left seems to have won the election in name only. it's amazing to me how timid we always seem compared to the other side. Maybe being louder and more annoying does make a difference and helps control the agenda.

by Deadman 8/13/2009 - 4:13 pm

I'm not sure that it's all about being louder.  To me, the anti-war protests seemed bigger and louder in every measurable sense, save for media coverage.  That's really my point here.

Clearly, the protests of the present have been deemed to be much more acceptable for 'round-the-clock coverage.  Perhaps people should consider why that is.

by DF 8/13/2009 - 4:59 pm (re: Deadman)

I was a part of both the massive Anti-War protests in NYC  February '03 which was almost half a million people and the massive 2004 GOP convention protests.  As I recall almost 2000 people were arrested in the convention protests.   The people who got media coverage were the raviest of the bunch.  You'd see Bush as Hitler signs or the ones with lots of creative wordplay with Bush and Dick.  You didn't see a lot of honest dialogue about why people were protesting the war or Bush's policies.  It did get some media coverage but only to show how "out of the mainstream" these lefty liberals are.

To be fair, the media is playing the same game with the Teabaggers and anti-health care reform elements.  The socialist posters get front billing, the guy with the gun gets all the interviews.

But the thing about it is that even as I particiated in those protests, I knew the would have no effect.  GWB was going to impose his will.  He didn't give a crap about public opinion or the people who disagreed with him.  He was the Decider.  He accepted the polarity of the nation and played upon it to make the protesters seem like they were just being partisan.  It kind of takes the oxygen out of the protest when you know you are not being heard and it doesn't make a very compelling story for the media.  Obama is  unwilling to marginalize these protesters, so we are losing the message and the media war.

by dijamo 8/13/2009 - 6:01 pm (re: DF)

Latest Comments

more